Management systems are used to configure craft and/or menu driven devices, such as network elements, in a communication network. In conventional management systems, each network element must be configured manually. That is, a network engineer (e.g. an installer) must manually log onto a network manager and send a set of commands to each of the network elements that is to be configured. Alternatively, network engineers may configure network elements by locally attaching a terminal to each of the network element's craft interfaces, and manually configure the network elements. In either case, it is apparent that in conventional management systems the network elements are required to be configured manually. Such configuration methods are extremely costly and time consuming.
Moreover, network elements typically require a plurality of distinct sets of instructions for configuration to bring them into proper operation. Various network elements may operate using different operational support systems (OSS) that require complex commands for the configuration of existing or new network elements. As disclosed above, these complex commands are typically entered manually, which can and has resulted in human error leading to system outages and installation delays. In addition, the numbers of commands required for configuration of a network element can be very large increasing the chances of input errors.
Configuration of craft and/or menu driven equipment, such as network elements, typically requires network engineers to be very knowledgeable. As such, these network engineers must undergo extensive training at a considerable expense of both time and money. Additionally, despite the best training efforts, network engineers are still very susceptible to making errors when entering configuration information resulting in delays and additional expense.